Tag Archives: restaurant

This weekend I headed out of my little Italian neighborhood in San Diego to visit friends in Phoenix, Arizona. While I was there I got to enjoy one of my favorite pizza spots with the best sauce ever!

Jimmy and Joe’s is a phenomenal find in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. They serve up serious slices with a serious sauce, Joe’s sauce, to be exact.

One slice of pizza weighs in at over one pound, with the potential to weigh over 2 pounds depending on the toppings (now that’s serious!) The restaurant has over 11 specialty pizzas but I like to make my own by combining almost a third of their over 25 toppings!

Bell peppers, red onions, jalapeños, and we can’t forget about the meat, Italian sausage, meatballs and bacon, finished off with bits of their homemade herb ricotta makes for one unforgettable slice of pizza!

They finish each slice off by placing a fortune cookie on the side. You may ask why a fortune cookie at a pizza place? I say why not? They’re tasty, fun and a conversation starter!

The #1 item on my summer bucket list was to complete the “food list challenge”, a list of 100 interesting foods everyone should try at least once in their lives! I got to knock another item off the list while in Boston by eating some delicious, meaty Kangaroo.

There was a new bar and restaurant that had just opened by my friend’s house called the “Tip Tap Room” which features various meat tips and over 30 beers on tap. Yeah, get it, tips and taps, I’m not going to lie, I think the name/concept is pretty dang creative, I kind of want to steal it as a theme for one of my dinner parties! Meat and beer, my kind of place!

They serve up more traditional meats such as chicken, steak and lamb, but also offer a “game of the day”, the day we were there, you guessed it, kangaroo! The obvious first choice of tips was Kangaroo, it was a mark off my food list challenge and a new scrumptious meat to try, but what other tip would we get…. we went with the lamb in a mint & shallot marinade with a minted glaze, chèvre mashed potatoes, sautéed greens and tzatziki sauce.

The potatoes were rich and creamy and the lamb was super flavorful!

As for the Kangaroo, the meat was similar to that of a sirloin steak. It was cooked to medium rare and nice, tender and juicy on the inside.

I loved the crunchy onions on top and light roasted potatoes on bottom.

I just looked at their website and the “Game of the Day” today is horseradish truffle marinated ostrich with foie gras blue cheese mash. Now if that doesn’t make me want to jump on a plane to Boston right now I don’t know what will! I miss Foie Gras, can we get over this whole ban thing in California already?

I digress. If you’re in or around Boston, check out the Tip Tap Room at 138 Cambridge St. Boston, MA 02114 in Beacon Hill or online at www.thetiptaproom.com.

As we boarded the ferry to escape the city of Boston for a week of play on Martha’s Vineyard, a challenge was set, who could eat the most Lobster Rolls. This is New England and these people are serious about their lobster! This wasn’t just a challenge of who could eat the most, it was also a challenge of who could find the best lobster roll on the Vineyard!

I quickly joined in the challenge as who doesn’t love the simple combination of fresh lobster meat, light mayonnaise and celery tossed into a deliciously toasted hot dog bun.

The Lobster Roll above came from the Seafood Shanty. A local bar serving up lots of fresh seafood and awesome ocean views! While the roll was delicious, it was a little heavy on the mayonnaise for my taste, and come to find out, I prefer my lobster rolls sans the celery!

The next Lobster Roll came from a restaurant in an awesome part of Martha’s Vineyard known as Gay Head Cliffs.

The views there were absolutely picturesque. We picked Aquinnah, a spot right on the cliffs to enjoy another delicious roll with a great view!

This was my favorite lobster roll of the trip and I definitely feel that I deserve the award for finding the best lobster roll on the Vineyard! Served with the traditional side of dill pickles and chips (Cape Cod chips nonetheless!), the meat was cold, tender and flavorful inside of a soft bun, minus the celery, with a little added lettuce.

Although there is only photographic evidence of two of the delicious Lobster Rolls consumed on Martha’s Vineyard, never fear, I was able to take down 4 rolls while on the Vineyard to tie for second place. My former roommate made me proud by coming in first place with 5 1/2 lobster rolls!

Can’t wait to return to this little island gem for beautiful food and magnificent sunrises!

In America, we do BBQ, in Italy they do Pizza and in Germany they do Sausages so when two German girls recommend a German restaurant, you eat there and you eat sausage!

My Dad used to work with these two girls and they would frequent Ingrid’s Kitchen for lunch. So of course while I was in town I met him for lunch to see what all the hype was about!

Since appearing on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives Ingrid’s has expanded their restaurant and their menu, but there’s one thing that’s remained the same and that is their homemade, authentic German sausages.

My Dad got his “usual” the #50 Smoked Sausage plate with sauerkraut, red cabbage and those amazing little German potatoes.

His Sausage was great but those potatoes were amazing, light and packed with flavor, I’d come back for a giant bowl of those alone!

I decided to try the Sausage Sandwich with ground veal and pork sausage, grilled onions and peppers. The sausage was exactly how they described it, flavorful! The homemade bread was fresh and toasted perfectly with a light layer of peppers and onions.

I’ll be heading back to Ingrid’s for another dose of potato amazingness next time I’m in Oklahoma!

Live music, delicious food and free beer make for a great little spot, but let’s be honest you had me at FREE BEER!

Before I left Oklahoma my brothers girlfriend invited me to lunch at this little spot known as Cafe Nova. It wasn’t until I arrived that I found out about the free beer at happy hour. Had I known about that prior I would have suggested a late (like 4 pm late) lunch!

Yes, from 4-7 PM Mon-Fri if you purchase a $5 appetizer you receive as much free domestic draft beer as you can drink. That could make for a fun Wednesday evening next time I come to visit 😉

But enough about this amazing happy hour that I didn’t get to experience, let’s get to the delicious food that I did experience while lunching with the “FSIL” at Cafe Nova!

We ordered The Fish Taco, Super Nova Salad and Tilapia, as well as their famous happy hour appetizer, the Gourmet Tots!

The Fish Taco was my favorite! The poblano aioli was killer and the tilapia was seared perfectly.

The salad was also delicious. I give them mad props for loading it up with tons of blue cheese and dried cherries! Nothing worse than a skimpy salad 😉

I won’t lie, I wanted to hate the Gourmet Tots just for the sake of our otherwise decently healthy meal being ruined. But those little golden nuggets of goodness, filled with cheese and ham, fried to a golden perfection were pretty outstanding.

Dipped in the homemade ranch… not too shabby, even for this weirdo over here who doesn’t like ranch! (I know, I know, call in the authorities, there mustbe something wrong with me!)

And finally the Tilapia, served with whipped potatoes and wilted spinach. While this was delicious, I felt the cream sauce and potatoes were a little heavy for lunch, but if you’re looking for something to fill you up mid-day, this would be the plate to get!

Come for the great food at lunch or the ultimate combo of great food and FREE beer at Happy Hour, either way Cafe Nova is a great place to go in OKC!

Hi, I'm Whitney! I’m a sports-loving, coffee-drinking, food blogger, the host of “29 Minute Meals” (premiering Jan 2017!), a contributing writer for TODAY Food, cookbook author and on camera food and lifestyle expert, regularly featured on news stations across the country! On my blog, you’ll find most recipes are made in 29 minutes or less, in one pot, or in a crock pot!
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